The present invention relates to computer management and diagnostics, and more particularly to a system and method for retrieving, displaying and controlling information of a computer by a handheld or portable device or the like via a communication interface.
It is often desired or even necessary to monitor certain parameters of a computer system to determine its status or to identify certain error conditions. This is particularly true for a server on a network. System administrators of a network, for example, must typically monitor the operation of one or more computers operating as servers of the network to determine and identify critical errors and operating parameters. One or more server systems are typically coupled to a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) or the like to serve a corresponding plurality of client computer systems. In more sophisticated configurations, the servers are equipped with management capabilities or software to enable a system administrator to control operations of the network, track and monitor network status, to maximize network efficiency, and to locate and correct network problems or failures. Many network management systems software is based on the simple network management protocol (SNMP) which is a well known management standard. Some particular network management software includes Compaq""s companion insight manager (CIM) or Novel""s netware.
Other information is also useful for performing management functions, such as the usage of resources and the status of various hardware devices installed. For example, it may be desired to determine the amount of available memory, parameters associated with the CPU(s), the version and date of ROM firmware, etc. A system monitoring software application may be used to monitor and identify such information for display on a monitor. For larger networks with several servers, it is not always convenient or cost effective to have a monitor for each system, or even to supply a single common monitor. For example, for network configurations including one or more servers mounted on a rack, there may be insufficient room for a monitor and other peripheral devices such as a mouse and keyboard.
In the simplest form, server diagnostics may consist of a system light emitting diode (LED) display indicating normal operation, activity, or some sort of system warning or failure. The LED design provides limited Input/Output (I/O) capability, is awkward to use, and provides limited capability, as only a particular subset of management information is available due in part to limited display capability. More advanced diagnostic features are available using Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) in order to provide additional and more complete information. The LCD usage model is usually one of alert or exception reporting. During normal operation, the LCD display is under-utilized. It displays nametag information, or other static information. The LCD is most beneficial during fault conditions or for asset management. The display has the ability to notify the user of a fault condition, and to provide additional easily accessible detail regarding the condition, possible precursor events, and appropriate resolution measures. It should be noted that there are other display technologies that provide similar functionality such as vacuum fluorescent technology.
One particular LCD device is an Integrated Management Display (IMD), which provides a more complete set of management information to the administrator. An existing IMD is relatively expensive and consumes a large amount of real estate on the front bezel. The case of the IMD is excessively large for the new dense server designs, and cannot be included on some designs. For example, cooling requirements may often preclude the use of a large diagnostic display that consumes a substantial amount of front bezel space. It is possible to reduce the size and capabilities of the IMD, but reducing functional capabilities is not always desired or practicable.
There is a concern regarding the implementation of many LCD displays in a server. As the density of the servers and other products continually increases, there will be more and more LCD displays in rack configurations. A configuration with a substantial number of displays are often utilized only in the exception case, such as when indicating the need for attention during fault conditions, and thus are often under-utilized during normal operations.
Even with the cost of LCD designs being reduced to address cost concerns, LCD devices are likely to be sold as options for certain configurations. It is expected that as the option cost decreases, attach rate will increase. It is desired to reduce the cost to provide management capabilities on a greater number of devices.
A communication interface system according to embodiments of the present invention may have many forms depending upon the desired functionality, such as status information retrieval, computer diagnostics, computer interface, etc. In some embodiments, a communication interface system enables retrieval of status or health information of a computer by a handheld device. In more sophisticated embodiments, the handheld device may be utilized to interact and control the computer system at various levels of operation, including power up, normal operation and powered down states.
A computer status information retrieval system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes a computer and a handheld device each with a communication port. The computer executes a health program that provides status information associated with operation of the computer. The handheld device interfaces with the computer communication port to retrieve and display the status information. The computer status information retrieval system is particularly advantageous when the computer is in a headless configuration, where the computer does not otherwise have input/output (I/O) devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or monitor. In the headless configuration, the computer communication port is conveniently located on the front bezel of the computer, where the handheld device replaces the LCD hardware the retrieve the status information. The handheld device may be any type of portable device including a corresponding serial or infrared communication port, such as a palm PC (PPC) a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, etc.
It is appreciated that a single communication port is relatively small compared to IMD or LCD hardware so that valuable real estate on the front bezel of the computer is saved. This is particularly advantageous for a server system in a stacked configuration, where each server has only a single communication port for communication with an external device, such as a handheld PDA. An administrator can communicate with any of the server systems in the stack configuration via the communication port via the handheld device, which conveniently replaces IMD or LCD functions.
In one embodiment, the communication between the computer and handheld device is through serial ports. In serial port embodiments, a serial cable is coupled between the serial ports of the handheld device and the computer. In one embodiment, a docking cradle with a serial connector is provided where the handheld device is placed into the docking cradle to enable serial communications with the computer.
It is noted that the status information may include any information that is collected, stored or otherwise provided by a health program executing on the computer system. Such health information may at least include any combination of naming information, system hardware information or event information. The handheld device may be utilized to simply retrieve the health information from the computer. In another embodiment, the health program is capable of controlling operational parameters of the computer, where the handheld device assumes operational control of the computer via the health program. In a further embodiment, the computer is a server coupled to a network and executes network management software that monitors management information in that controlled parameters associated with a network. In this manner, the handheld device may retrieve status information of the network and may further have control of management functions via the network management software. In any of the embodiments, the handheld device may include a browser application to conveniently browse any of the status of health information of the computer. The handheld device typically has a display, where the browser displays the information on the handheld device for use by an administrator.
And yet further embodiments, the communication ports of the handheld device and the computer are implemented with infrared transceivers. In this manner, the handheld device communicates with the computer via an infrared protocol such as the IrDA protocol. In one embodiment for example, the computer includes a peripheral bus, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, and further includes a management function system coupled to the peripheral bus. The management system is coupled to an I/O bus, which is further coupled to a microcontroller. The microcontroller is coupled to an infrared transceiver, which may conveniently be located on the front bezel of the computer. In this manner, the microcontroller may implement an IrDA stack for enabling communications with the handheld device via the infrared transceiver. The I/O bus may be implemented in any suitable format, such as the I2C bus by Philips Electronics.
In yet further embodiments, a memory, such as implemented using non-volatile (NV) memory devices or the like, may be coupled to the microcontroller for storing the status information of the computer. The microcontroller may then store status information from the computer into its NV memory, or may further store information from the handheld device sent via the infrared transceiver. In yet another embodiment, the computer infrared transceiver, the microcontroller and the NV memory receive auxiliary power so that these devices are operational when the computer is powered down. In this manner, the microcontroller sends information from the NV memory to the handheld device even when the computer is powered down.
A computer diagnostic system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a computer with a communication port, an I/O system and a handheld device. The computer and communication port are implemented in a similar manner as previously described. The I/O system enables communication via the computer communication port during power up self test (POST) of the computer system. The handheld device communicates with the computer during POST. In one embodiment, the I/O system includes a System ROM that further includes I/O code to enable communications with the handheld device when executed. The main processor or CPU of the computer executes the I/O code during POST upon power up of the computer. For example, the basic input/output system (BIOS) stored in the System ROM of the computer is typically transferred to main memory and executed by the main processor. The processor executes the I/O code to enable the handheld device during POST so that the handheld device replaces some of the standard I/O devices during power up.
For example, the I/O code may enable the handheld device to emulate at least one I/O device, such as any one or more of a keyboard, a mouse, a disk drive, a monitor etc. In this manner, any information that might otherwise be displayed on a monitor coupled to the computer is forwarded to the handheld device for display. Furthermore, an administrator may interface the computer via the handheld device to perform set up or configuration or any other diagnostics for the computer during power up and before the operating system is installed and executed.
The computer diagnostic system is implemented in a similar manner as previously described, such as through serial or infrared communications. For the infrared communication embodiments, the computer includes an infrared transceiver, an I/O bus, a microcontroller and memory. This enables infrared communications with the handheld device, which also includes an infrared transceiver and infrared communication capabilities. Further, the infrared system may receive auxiliary power to enable communications with the handheld device even while the computer is powered down.
A computer interface system for a computer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a CPU, a peripheral bus, a management processor coupled to the peripheral bus and an infrared transceiver coupled to the management processor. In this embodiment, the management processor enables an external device to emulate any one or more of a keyboard, a mouse, a disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a monitor via the infrared transceiver of the computer. The management processor may operate in a similar manner as the microcontroller previously described. For example, the management processor may implement an IrDA stack and conduct the infrared communications via the infrared transceiver. Alternatively, a microcontroller and memory may be coupled to the management processor via an I/O bus, such as the I2C bus. The microcontroller may then be utilized to implement the IrDA stack to enable communications with the external device via the infrared transceiver.
The management processor may perform additional functionality as compared to a microcontroller only embodiment. For example, the management processor may decode video cycles on the peripheral bus, convert the video cycles to a video stream, and send the video stream via the infrared transceiver for display by the external device. The management processor may further include a memory, such as implemented using RAM and ROM devices, where the management processor stores status information of the computer into its memory. The management processor and its memory may also be powered through auxiliary power so that it is functional when the power of the computer is shut down. In this manner, the external device may communicate with the management processor and retrieve status information of the computer even while powered down. The management processor may be implemented to monitor the system health during normal operation and further may track events that lead to a shutdown of the computer system. Since the management processor operates through the shut down process and continues to operate after shut down, an administrator may retrieve vital shut down or other event information from the management processor memory at any time. The administrator will be able to use functionality of the management processor in order to power on the computer system.
It is appreciated that a communication interface system according to embodiments of the present invention completely replaces prior IMD or LCD configurations. The computer need only include an external communications port, such as a serial or infrared transceiver port, to enable communications with and external, handheld device. The handheld device replaces an IMD or LCD for any number of computers, such as server computers in a stacked configuration. A communication interface system may provide additional control, configuration, or setup functionality depending upon the particular embodiment.